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Utah’s Olympic quest really began as a 1960s ploy for publicity — and it worked

Olympic pioneers tried to land the 1972 and 1976 Winter Games touting Utah’s advantage: skiing venues close to a city. “If we hadn’t done it in ‘65,” one bidder said in 2002, “it would not be happening.”

(Robert H. Woody | The Salt Lake Tribune) In 1966, Utahns attended an IOC meeting in Rome to pitch the idea of Salt Lake City hosting the 1972 Winter Olympics. From left: Jack Gallivan, Salt Lake Tribune publisher; Dev Jennings, president of the Utah Ski Association; Gene Donovan; Maxwell E. Rich, Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce president; Walker Wallace; F. C. Koziol Wasatch/Cache National Forest supervisor; and Glen Adams.

By Lex Hemphill | The Salt Lake Tribune